DUBAI, February 8, 2014 (AFP) - American Taylor Phinney on Saturday was crowned the winner of the inaugural Tour of Dubai, triumphing by a 15 second margin over his BMC teammate, Steve Cummings. Phinney would not be denied, despite a third straight stage win in Saturday's fourth stage time trial by Germany's Marcel Kittel.

Playing it safe on Saturday, Phinney was able to hold onto first place from his British teammate Cummings, with Lasse Hansen of Denmark in third, 17 seconds behind Phinney's final time of nine hours 31 mins.

Phinney said the victory marked a "big step for me".

"I would consider this my first pro stage race victory," he said. "So this is a big step for me, to step into the team leader's jersey. It's a role I feel comfortable in and I feel I can slip into it easily. I like being motivational with my team-mates. I love it when you see guys give everything for you."

"I'm super-honored. I'd like to see this race grow and I'd like to be part of that growing process," he added. "It's a cool feeling to win the first edition."

Kittel's time for the 123-kilometer (76 miles) final stage was 2hrs 41 mins and nine seconds, ahead of Australian Mark Renshaw and Italy's Andrea Guardini.

"For me as a sprinter, I have several goals during the year," said Kittel. "It's not only one race, like a GC rider. The Dubai Tour was my first goal, now I go home for easy training before thinking about my next goal."